The gift hummingbird feeder changed everything.
~~ Lisa Weeks ~~

Friends, family. Endless adventures. No regrets.
~~ Xavier Stevens ~~

Knitting while driving, she died happy.
~~ Xan ~~

Reject null; laughed, loved, lived. Lucky!
~~ Angi Miller ~~

Lead herself into temptation. Loved it.
~~ Megan Green ~~

I got up and kept going.
~~ Liz Smith ~~

Lived without fear, loved without caution!
~~ Rae/Roya ~~

Knowing things, he strive’d to share.
~~ Adam Crafter ~~

Change, change again, change back, repeat.
~~ Jim Dick ~~

Should have eaten more Hostess cupcakes.
~~ Paula Peters ~~

Nice guys are a catch, eventually.
~~ Clint Wedel ~~

Succulent steak, gorgeous vista, torrid lovemaking.
~~ Brandy Haan ~~

Question: If you could wake up anywhere tomorrow, where would it be?

Responses (so far):

If I could choose anywhere I think it would be to wake up on a cool morning of a perfect 80 degree day, tucked under a down comforter, room windows open so I could hear the surf, in the arms of my true love, with the smell of fresh brewed coffee and bacon wafting in the sea salt scented air. ~Xan

I think I would like to wake up in Uluwatu, Bali. Having a cup of local Sumatran coffee watching the sun come up and shedding first light on the waves. ~Xavier

Tuscany/Florence, Italy!!! Definitely Italy. ~Brandy

Cocoa, FL, with my kids. ~Glenn

[In Paris with] A soft comfy bed with fluffy pillows, a good book and room service. ~Heather M.

I would like to wake up at my grandparents’ home in New Boston (TX). Mornings there are so peaceful, and I know my time with them is limited. And it’s about 30 degrees warmer there. ~Dave

An island in the Caribbean, perhaps St. Lucia, with Jeffy. ~Ellen J.

Next to my husband (preferably some place fun/exotic as well). ~Amanda

The Catacurian – a boutique cooking hotel in El Priorat, Spain. I would, of course, be vacationing there. ~Megan

San Gimignano, Italy. With someone special, of course. ~Jennifer

If I could wake up anywhere tomorrow it would be Dublin. ~Jenna

Response (Including above photos): I would wake up in my own flat in the Pearl District facing Mount Hood in beautiful downtown Portland, OR. Here the urban boundary is respected, recycling is expected, a trip to the mountains is 20 minutes away and to the coast is 45 minutes away, the best coffee in the world flows freely from vendors on every corner, maple scones are plentiful, sweaters and fleece are the standard dress code, and the oddballs, smokers, hippies, artists, writers are free to be happy. Books, bikes, and beer at every turn. Hiking for days at a time from cabin rentals in the middle of nowhere. Fresh seafood and salmon that you can order by the region in which it was harvested. Otters floating on their backs in the river cracking open clams and engaging in professional play. Rain, waterfalls, windsurfing on the Columbia River. What more could one want? Nothing. It’s pure bliss, like Seattle without the pomp the icky humidity, that’s only a domestic flight away.

About me: Loren Bennesch, 38 years old, a Northerner who now lives in Lawrence KS – an avid reader/writer with an addiction for coffee who misses real rainstorms and wishes riding a bicycle to work from the Westside didn’t mean taking one’s life into one’s own hands.

I would wake up in a room at Children’s Mercy AFTER Lucy has her surgery knowing that she is going to be okay. ~Brenda

Somewhere warm and beachy, with the ability to eat whatever I wanted and never gain weight. And there would peace across the land and everyone would have plenty. ~Sherry

I’d wake up in the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador where it is warm and there are Blue-footed Boobies (a bird I’m dying to see). ~Lisa W.

I’d wake up from under a thick, fluffy duvet, in a small room that overlooks a busy early Saturday morning crowd at the Viktualienmarkt in Munich. ~Dale W.

I would wake up 10 years ago in my own skin and my own bed knowing what I know now. ~Barb

In Vegas with a wad of cash! ~Barb’s Mom

In a happy marriage — next to a good man. ~Anonymous

In the arms of Tom Selleck. ~Janet

A beach, on a beach towel, with the warm sand underneath, and the sun rising, warming my skin, next to my CK, with the gentlest breeze, hearing only the waves, and the seagulls. ~Emily

I’d choose to wake in my king size bed, snuggling with my husband, 5 year old daughter and 8 year old son, on a no-particular-plans Sunday morning. If I’m lucky, I’ll be the first to wake, so I can study those two little faces, finding their father’s features mingled with mine. ~Melora

In your heart - Beside you - Forever and Always! ~Clint

Somewhere in or near the Willamette Valley. ~Ken